


And We Keep Meeting

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: M/M, get-together, lawyers in like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24050851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: Isaiah's reactions to Sonny in his class as Sonny stops by his office as a fellow ADA.
Relationships: Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr./Isaiah Holmes
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	And We Keep Meeting

"Mr. Holmes, Sonny Carisi is here to see you if you have time."

Isaiah gives his intercom an amused look. "If I have time?" he asks. 

"He said to quote him, Sir."

Isaiah hears a quiet laugh and takes a moment to smile to himself. "I suppose I have time."

"I'll send him in."

Isaiah licks his lips to move the smile back a notch. It's one thing to be welcoming to Carisi. It's another to give away how excited he is to know the man is dropping by unannounced. 

*

The first session of Law Ethics each semester is a crapshoot. Isaiah doesn't go for get-to-know-me games, so he relies on roll call to get eyes on every person to make a guess on who's going to be obnoxious. 

"Carisi, Domnick."

"Here. You can call me Sonny."

Isaiah gives Sonny Carisi the same once-over he gives everyone else and can't get a reading. It's partly because the smile Sonny Carisi gives him is so open and bright, it feels like it should be fake. But there's an intelligence and seriousness in his eyes that seems like it doesn't fit. 

Isaiah decides he likely won't be a problem student but makes no other assumptions after that.

*

Sonny walks into Isaiah's office and closes the door behind him. He turns to Isaiah with a wide smile and shakes his hand like they're old friends. "Hi. Thanks for taking a minute."

"I'm curious why you need one," Isaiah replies. He gestures to the couch to the left. "Please, sit. Can I get you some coffee or some water?"

"Coffee would be great." Sonny sits and stretches. He winces when something pops. "Ignore that," he says. 

Isaiah pours two cups of coffee, adding a splash of milk to his. "Two sugars, right?" he asks, though he knows he's right.

"Yeah, thanks," Sonny replies.

Isaiah drops in two sugar cubes and adds a spoon, then carries both cups over to the couch. He sits across from Sonny in the matching armchair and sets their cups on the coffee table. "I'm pretty sure my back made the same noises when I was a junior ADA, but I was also noticeably younger."

"Oh, sure, rub it in," Sonny says as he picks up his coffee. He stirs a few times, then sips. 

*

Isaiah learns Sonny's coffee preference during the third class session, when Sonny walks in with multiple carriers of coffee and starts to pass them out along the entire row where he sits. 

"Don't worry, Sir," Sonny says as he sets a cup of coffee on Isaiah's desk, "I didn't forget to bring a bribe."

Isaiah eyes the small coffee and glances back at Sonny. "If it's not decaf, it won't do me much good."

"Decaf with a splash of milk," Sonny replies. He winks--full-on _winks_ \--at Isaiah.

"Do I want to know how you figured out those things?"

"I figured there was a good chance you go to the same coffee shop the rest of us hit up before class," Sonny says. "So, I asked. Not a lot of guys over six feet who are regulars."

"A good logical process," Isaiah replies, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. "Thank you."

"Sure," Sonny says, already half-turned to walk back to his row.

"And how do you take yours?" Isaiah asks without thinking. The openness that's always in Sonny's smiles reflects through the rest of him and makes Isaiah curious.

"Caffeinated as hell with two sugars," Sonny replies. He gives Isaiah one more smile then rejoins his classmates.

*

"Please tell me you're not here with another wrongful conviction you need overturned," Isaiah says. 

Sonny shakes his head and wipes a bit of coffee from the corner of his mouth. "Nah, nothing like that." He reaches into his inner suit jacket pocket and takes out a folded set of papers. "We've got a guy on three rapes in Manhattan. While my--the--detectives were investigating, they found three women here in Queens who had filed reports. They called over to the investigating precient and got the run around."

"Who defined the run around?" Isaiah asks as he holds out a hand to accept the papers. 

"Lieutenant Dodds."

Isaiah pauses in unfolding the papers. "Dodds?"

"Yeah."

Isaiah sighs deeply. "Shit. You would have to have the single nepotism-looking hire in the entire NYPD I'd trust."

Sonny chuckles quietly. "Yeah, he's like that."

Isaiah skims the report he's just unfolded. "Did the detectives give any concrete reason they felt the victims were untrustworthy?"

"No," Sonny says, "But I'm hoping you can make a call or two and find me an answer that isn't the negative thoughts I'm having right now."

*

It's in week four of the semester that Isaiah really sees Sonny Carisi come into his own in his class. That bright, open smile morphs into a thin line of mouth when someone makes an argument in bad faith or tries to derail someone else clearly discussing a 'best of' situation. 

"Just because you think everyone's an asshole doesn't mean it's true," Sonny says when another student gets dismissive at someone else arguing that people are generally trustworthy. "I don't know what your experience is, but in mine, people really are generally good and want to help. They just get scared."

"And what do you do, Carisi?" the guy had asked, positively rolling in annoyed superiority. "Spend all day with preschoolers?"

"I'm a detective with Manhattan SVU," Sonny replies, the sharp edge of his tone causing Isaiah to look at him as much as the announcement of what he does. "What do you do, Colin?"

Colin looks flabbergasted in that way Isaiah has come to recognize as the look of someone who has rarely been challenged. "I'm an app developer," he says, his voice getting thready on the last word. 

Isaiah is tempted to interrupt and get them back on topic, but he's also very curious about how Sonny will react to that information. Will he maintain that people are generally good, or will he get dismissive about Colin's work?

"That's a stressful gig," Sonny says, and Isaiah reads surprise in about half the room. They'd clearly expected Sonny to tear the man down. "You have to trust everyone on a team like that to do their own share and sometimes more than to get things done on time, right?"

Colin looks like someone's just hit him on the head with a clown hammer. "Yeah," he says. 

Sonny gives an elaborate shrug that Isaiah realizes a second too late is both honest and a bit mocking. "I don't get how you can do a job like that and think people aren't basically doing their best."

"You obviously haven't worked in tech," Colin says. His attempt to gain back ground is met with a silent wave of displeasure from his fellow students. 

"You're right," Sonny replies, so deadpan that Isaiah has to sip his--once again, Sonny-delivered--coffee to hide his smirk, "it's nothing but stand up guys in the NYPD."

*

Isaiah stands from his chair and walks to his office door. He opens it and holds up the papers when his assistant, Taylor, looks at him. "Make a few calls and see if anyone has opinions on the cops listed in this report," he says. 

Taylor takes the report and skims it as quickly as Isaiah did. They grimace and give Isaiah a skeptical look. "I'll do what I can."

"I know," Isaiah replies, giving Taylor a quick smile before shutting the door again. 

"Hope for the best, right?" Sonny asks as Isaiah sits down again.

Isaiah chuckles without meaning to. He looks at Sonny and takes a moment to really take in the view. The last time they'd seen each other, they'd been focused on helping George. Isaiah had read the stress Sonny carried as much as he'd felt his own. Now, Sonny's holding his coffee cup loosely, arms stretched out along the back of the couch. His right ankle is balanced on his left knee. He's not in a waistcoat this time, simply a well-cut suit and a black shirt with tiny white dots. His tie is black with an off-center white stripe. 

"You look like you're settling into your new role well," Isaiah says, looking up from Sonny's tie to meet his eyes. 

Sonny considers the statement as he takes another sip of coffee. "I won my first trial," he says. "I'm trying to ride that to the next big fear."

"How big was the first trial fear?" Isaiah asks.

Sonny huffs, then smoothes a hand down his tie. "I wrote a resignation letter after I got my ass handed to me in cross," Sonny says, talking more to his shoes than Isaiah. He looks up at the ceiling. "And then I threw up when I heard the jury was back."

"You really do believe in the goodness of people," Isaiah says. 

Sonny looks up, then cocks his head. "What?"

Isaiah has to school his face so his embarrassment doesn't show. He hadn't meant to say that. "When you took my class, you said you believed in the goodness of people."

Sonny squints, staring at the ceiling again. "Right," he says slowly, then looks at Isaiah again. "You remember that?"

Isaiah scrapes his teeth lightly over his lower lip, considering his answer. "You're a memorable person," he says after a pause that he knows is too long. 

Sonny sips his coffee. "Decaf coffee with a splash of milk," he says, glancing at Isaiah's cup. "But I don't think that's decaf."

"It's not evening yet," Isaiah says. "If I stop before six, I can still sleep."

"I've been wondering," Sonny replies. 

"All this time?" Isaiah asks. He hears the flirt in his voice and doesn't care. Sonny's not a student anymore. He's an ADA, and even if he was still a detective, there wouldn't be a conflict of interest. 

"All this time," Sonny says and leans forward to set his coffee cup on the table between them. He meets Isaiah's gaze with the sort of clear-eyed confidence that Isaiah has always found the most attractive. "You didn't actually forget how I take my coffee, did you?"

"No," Isaiah says. 

Sonny gives a considering hum and looks towards Isaiah's office door. "I'm pretty sure Taylor's going to come back in here with bad news about those cops."

"I'm pretty sure you're right."

Sonny nods slowly. "That's gonna ruin my day. I'm gonna be honest."

"People are generally good," Isaiah says and smiles when Sonny cuts him a sharp look. "But when they're not, a nice dinner can make things better."

Sonny rests elbows on his knees, his entire body radiating an openness that Isaiah would be happy to explore in a slow, deliberate plan. "Where would you suggest?" he asks. 

Isaiah mirrors his position and gives Sonny his own smile. "What are you in the mood for?" 

Sonny gives him a once-over that is unmistakable in its appreciation. "Something welcoming," he says. 

Isaiah laughs quietly. "I have a few ideas."

*

At the end of the semester, Sonny thanks Isaiah for his hard work. Isaiah thanks him for being an excellent student, and they shake hands. Isaiah watches him walk away, letting himself appreciate the long-legged gait in a way he has intentionally been ignoring all semester. He packs up his briefcase and wonders for a moment if Sonny would say yes to a dinner invite once grades are in. He shakes his head at his thoughts and leaves the classroom, flipping off the lights. No good to wonder on it. He doesn't date students, even if they're no longer his students. Maybe he and Sonny will run into each other again some other time, and Isaiah can try then if he's still curious. 

He'll just have to wait and see.

**Author's Note:**

> Whelp, back on my Holmisi bullshit. As it should be.


End file.
